Real Wedding – James & Olivia, Albert Park Lake VIC
For a couple who describe themselves as “very extra”, Olivia and James’s wedding celebrations were bound to be epic. Sophisticated, bold and elevated styling was underpinned with a fuchsia-shot colour palette against dramatic blacks, rich textural layers and moodily romantic minimalism.
Olivia stuns in her one-of-a-kind custom gown by Capellazzo, while James cuts a figure of old world class in his black tux by YSG Tailors.
For Olivia, who hadn’t given much thought to her dream wedding before getting engaged, following pages like ours and pinning together a mood board translated their personal style into their wedding vision with perfection.
Every frame captured by Maegan Brown Moments barely contains the fun and energy of this incredible day, culminating in a dance floor to remember by Melbourne Entertainment Co.
Scroll on for an intense dopamine hit!
The meeting.
We met back in high school through mutual friends. We naturally became friendly through high school and would often cross paths. One of my friends loved James, they were very close friends growing up, but she always had a little quiet crush on him. So naturally, James was always off limits. As we grew up, her crush faded as she had herself a boyfriend. James and I naturally began to flirt and exchange messages. We had a situationship for a few years, as we both wanted to travel and explore a lot more. We were still in our early 20’s. But as fate would have it, we both couldn’t stop thinking about one another on our travels and knew that we wanted to pursue our real relationship once we were back in Australia.
The one.
I can’t think of a specific moment for myself. But I honestly feel we both knew when we were on our individual travels, all we could both think about was being home with one another.
The proposal.
My 30th birthday was coming up, and James and I are extra. We love splurging. Every birthday, we usually get an apartment in the city for the weekend and go out for a nice dinner. James had continued the tradition for this birthday, obviously being my 30th, it was much more extravagant. So I was in no way the slightest bit savvy to his plans.
He had hired a beautiful room at the W, and I was to meet him there straight from work. He led me up to the room and told me to check it all out. I walked into the bedroom area, and the room was filled with balloons, and the bed was COVERED in my favourite chocolate with a red neon sign above it asking the question. I went straight for the chocolate, and it wasn’t until James exclaimed, “lib, read the sign?” Had I even noticed it? He had organised for a friend to film the entire thing, and I hadn’t even spotted the cameras all set up in the room either. Talk about oblivious! We then had a dinner just us two, and the second night, he had organised for all our nearest and dearest to share a celebratory dinner with us. It was the best!
Planning process.
We took our time planning, as we had decided on a long engagement. We had a lot going on that year. I also had no clue where to begin. I have never really put a lot of thought into weddings at all as we had only ever been to one or two. So I began following so many pages on Instagram (Ivory Tribe included!) and just scrolled Pinterest. I pinned all the things I liked and made a mood board.
Money was a thing we wanted to be conscious of. Being extra made that hard! And we quite quickly realised we needed to make cuts where we could. So we made a list of what was going be most important to us on the day and where we wanted to splurge. That made it a lot easier. Having a long engagement made it easy to search and book our date. I only experienced one heartbreak, missing out on a vendor. Scouring the internet for vendors is a very overwhelming experience. So that was something I didn’t like about the planning process.
Style inspiration.
Modern, minimal-ish, with a splash of drama.
The ceremony.
I think the fact that we had it in a church made it feel really significant, I am not a religious person and was never baptised. James grew up Orthodox Greek, so the church wasn’t really a first thought, as I would need to become baptised. We ultimately decided it would be nice to go the traditional route and get married in the church. James’s Yai Yai and his Detho are both quite old, so we figured it would mean a lot to them if they were able to see us tie the knot in a religious setting.
The outfits.
Again, I never ever envisioned myself as a bride. So naturally, when the time came, my mum, sisters and I went and visited a few boutiques. This was still quite a while out from the wedding. I never found anything I liked or any style or fabric I felt was me. So that’s when I decided to go custom. I did a deep dive into my own style, what necklines I loved on me, what silhouettes complemented my figure best, and what fabrics were something I could see myself in. I began looking at red carpet dresses and gaining inspo from that as well. Then, when I had a vision, I hunted down the perfect designer to help it come to life. That’s when I found Sonya at Cappellazzo.
James’s suit was complete fate. I told him to go and message a guy who we met in Bali, he was on his honeymoon, he was a suit tailor. James decided to go with a tailor who was recommended to him by a few people. When he made the call to book an appointment, it turned out it was Ryan who we met in Bali all those years ago, anyway!
Favourite moment.
The Greek traditional dancing, I think what made it so special was seeing all our friends and family coming together and enjoying the love and tradition. There was not one person sitting down. It was magic!
Meaning of marriage.
A union of two people, willing to do what it takes to choose love every day. I believe you need to put in the work. James and I had gone through a lot of trials leading up to us getting engaged. We knew we both loved one another, but also knew we would have to truly work to make it work. We are both similar, but also extremely opposite. So growing and learning from each other every day always takes work, but we are both dedicated to it.
Wedding soundtrack.
Aisle: traditional orthodox chanting.
Reception entry: Show Me Love – Steve Angello, Laid Back Luke Remix.
First dance: Next To Me – RÜFÜS
Funny stories (or near disasters).
We lost our social content creator two months out from the wedding. She had decided to leave the industry. Lucky I had my incredible brother-in-law who hooked us up with the guys from At Last Film & Photography. And then he was able to edit it for us, as we never budgeted for a videographer.
Words of wisdom.
It’s stressful! But just always try to bring it back to you both. At the end of the day, it’s about you guys. Always remember, don’t do things because you think you have to or because it’s trendy. Before you begin to plan, really sit down and discuss what you truly want, who you want there and see if that aligns with your budget.
Love Olivia’s bridesmaid looks in chic, elegant black? Enjoy our round-up of our favourite iconic bridesmaid looks from the summer season, here.
JAMES & OLIVIA’S VENDORS
Ceremony venue: St John the Forerunner Greek Orthodox Church, Carlton
Reception venue: Carousel, Albert Park Lake
Celebrant: Father Manuel
Photography: Maegan Brown Moments
Videography: At Last Film & Photography
Styling: Cloth & Confetti
Florist: Flowers by Brett Matthew John
Hair: Harlen Hair
Make-up: Holly Davis Make-up
The dress & veil: Cappellazzo
Shoes: Attico
Rings: Family jeweller
Bridesmaid’s dresses: AJE, Effie Kats, Rat & Boa, House of CB
Suits & bow ties: YSG Tailors
Cake: Rachel Honeycomb Cakes
Stationery / Signage: Sign & Co
Entertainment: Joe at Melbourne Entertainment Co
Transport: Exotic Limos
Hire: Abra Events
Honeymoon: Brazil
